摘要
Submarine hydrothermal vents occur over a wide depth range from a few meters to several thousands of meters. Most existing hydrothermal fluid samplers are focused on deep-sea environments and are not suited for collecting shallow-water fluids. In this study, a new gas-tight sampler which can be easily deployed by both submersibles and scuba divers to collect fluid samples from both deep-sea and shallow-water hydrothermal vents is presented. The proposed sampler uses an electric control sampling valve for fluid collection and a system to measure and display the temperature of the hydrothermal fluid while sampling. It is capable of working in manual mode to be controlled via external signals, or in automatic mode to collect a fluid sample according to the temperature. The master-slave architecture of the electronic system makes the sampler flexible in meeting many different deployment requirements. The performance of the sampler has been demonstrated by preliminary field tests at a shallow-water hydrothermal vent site.
研究目的:提出一种采样设备,可同时满足浅海和深海热液的取样要求。创新要点:提出一种电控热液气密采样器,具有灵活的工作模式,便于潜水员和深潜器机械手操作,满足浅海和深海不同使用场合。研究方法:在传统热液采样器的基础上集成了温度实时测量与显示系统,设计了适用于浅海和深海的温度显示和信号触发腔(见图5、6),可方便潜水员和深潜器机械手操作。使用结构紧凑的电控触发器来控制采样,而且具有多种控制模式,因而使采样器的使用更加灵活。重要结论:采样器在浅海热液区进行了成功海试,验证了温度实时测量与显示系统能确保采样器获取高纯度的热液样品。
基金
Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China （No. 41106081）, and the Science Fund for Creative Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foundation of China （No. 51221004）
